Harry Potter and The White Queen (BP3)
folder
Harry Potter › Slash - Male/Male › Harry/Draco
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
49
Views:
28,190
Reviews:
234
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
1
Category:
Harry Potter › Slash - Male/Male › Harry/Draco
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
49
Views:
28,190
Reviews:
234
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
1
Disclaimer:
I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Fire and Ice
Chapter Number/Total: 9/49
Chapter Title: Fire and Ice
Words: 5860 Words
Harry landed hard on his side, groaning as he hit the floor. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, gritting his teeth at the pain.
Two loud groans near him told him that Ron and Hermione had fallen as well. "Are you both okay?" he asked after a few seconds, rubbing his side tenderly.
"I'm okay," said Ron in a strained voice.
"So am I," said Hermione, voice as tight as Ron's.
Harry got gingerly to his feet and Summoned his wand, unable to see in the darkness. "Lumos," he said, but nothing happened. He frowned and tried the spell again. "Lumos," he said, but still, nothing happened.
"Lumos," came Hermione's voice, but no light followed her words, and then Ron tried and nothing happened with his wand either.
"Why can't we light our wands?" Ron asked. Harry couldn't see his face, but he could tell he was nervous.
"There's probably some sort of spell or shield up preventing it," said Hermione.
"Then how are we supposed to bloody see down here?" asked Ron, and almost as if to answer his question, torches on the walls lit up around them, flickering to life.
Harry tensed immediately and held his wand up, staring around the newly illuminated room. It was a huge basement, empty except for the fallen planks of wood from the stairs. The corners of the room were still dark and Harry was very wary of them. "Stick close to me," he said again.
He moved away from the collapsed staircase slowly, eyes roaming over every part of the room.
Ron and Hermione followed behind him, their wands held out as well.
"This place looks empty," Hermione said.
"Looks empty," said Harry. "Believe me, not everything is going to be how it seems." He felt Ron and Hermione move closer.
They moved from corner to corner very slowly, warily checking out the four dark spots, but there was nothing, absolutely nothing in the room.
Frustrated, Harry huffed and ran a hand through his hair.
"I don't get it," said Ron. "All of that for an empty room? Why put the torches down here? Why put that spell on the staircase?"
"There has to be something we're not seeing," Harry muttered absently, running his hand along the stone wall. He wondered if Draco would be able to find it if he were down here.
Hermione stared around the room, seeming to be thinking. "Yes, it's obvious that we're missing something," she said to herself, thinking aloud. "But what? What could it be?"
Harry huffed again, ceasing the uselessness of feeling the wall.
"There's obviously a ward in place," Hermione said. "We couldn't light our wands. The question is ... can we do magic at all?"
Harry and Ron both swallowed thickly at that.
Hermione held her wand out and brought it down through the air, golden sparks following her movement. Seeming relieved, she nodded. "Well, it's not blocking all magic," she said.
"But what's the point of blocking Lumos?" Harry asked. "That's hardly the spell I would block if I were Voldemort."
Hermione shook her head, thinking again. "Naturally, Lumos would be the first spell anyone would use when they came down here," she said. "But the torches are meant to give the light. Trying to use Lumos triggered them. Had we been able to use the spell, the torches wouldn't be needed, thus the torches must be significant." She walked over to the nearest torch in the wall, studying it intently.
Harry and Ron watched her, both of them quiet.
"Yes," she said after a short while. "Come here and look."
They both rushed over, looking to where she was pointing at a small engraved picture on the metal holder of the torch.
"What is it?" Ron asked.
The picture was of a human figure that seemed to be standing on a broken line. It looked to Harry like it was supposed to be a floor with an opening. Beneath the line and the figure was a serpent with tiny flecks of amber for eyes.
"Look at the others," Hermione said, moving away and going to the next torch. Harry and Ron followed her here as well.
They made their way around the room, studying each torch. Many of the torches had no pictures, but five of them did, including the first one they had looked at. There was a picture of a grotesque-looking person with what seemed to be small diamonds surrounding the figure. There was a picture of a serpent with emeralds for eyes wrapped around a lion with rubies where the eyes were and then another engraving of the same lion and snake apart and looking vicious. The last engraving they found was of the emerald-eyed snake atop a line similar to the one of the first picture. The same amber-eyed snake was there and in the same place, only this time the line was whole and unbroken.
"What does it mean?" Harry asked when they had made it back to the starting point.
Hermione chewed on her lip. "I think it's ... a tale," she said.
"A tale?" said Ron, raising an eyebrow.
Hermione nodded. "Yes, but I think it's out of order." She began walking around the room yet again, looking at each of the marked torches. "I think it's obvious that the green-eyed snake and the lion stand for Gryffindor and Slytherin," she said.
Harry nodded, having thought that as well.
"In one image they're entwined," she continued, "and in another they're apart and they look ... angry."
"And the other images?" asked Ron.
Hermione chewed on her lip again. "Well, there's the one with Slytherin and the yellow-eyed snake," she said, walking over to the torch holding that picture. "And the line isn't broken like in the other picture with the yellow-eyed snake."
"The Basilisk!" said Harry suddenly. "The yellow-eyed snake is the Basilisk!" He quickly joined Hermione at the torch. He ran a finger along the line, or the 'floor.' "The Chamber of Secrets," he said quietly. "That's what this means."
Hermione nodded, looking excited as she always did when she was on the verge of figuring something out. "Yes," she said, practically running back to the torch with the yellow-eyed snake and the human figure. "And here the Chamber is opened," she said, "while in the other one it's closed."
"That's the tale," said Harry quickly. "The Chamber of Secrets."
Hermione nodded again. "Gryffindor and Slytherin were best friends," she began, crossing to the image of lion and snake entwined. "They parted ways." Here she walked to the image of lion and snake apart and angry. "Slytherin created the Chamber of Secrets and placed the Basilisk inside." She walked to the image of the two snakes and the closed line. "And the Heir of Slytherin released the Basilisk." She finally turned to the image of the human and snake with the broken line. "Tom Riddle - Lord Voldemort."
"But what's the other picture?" Ron asked, crossing to the torch engraved with the picture of the very ugly person surrounded by the diamond sparks.
Hermione frowned, joining Ron. "Hmm ..." she said, staring intently at the picture. She repeated the story to herself aloud, thinking again.
"A person killed by the Basilisk?" Ron suggested.
"Hmm," Hermione said again. "No ... I don't think so .... Look at the sparks. Those don't appear when you're killed by a Basilisk, or even petrified. You simply die or freeze."
Harry stared at the image too, sighing. "What is it then?" he said. "Where does it fit in the story?"
Hermione shook her head, still frowning. After several moments she shook her head yet again. "I just don't know," she said. "It could be anything ..." But then her face showed sudden comprehension and she took a sharp breath. "Of course!" she said. "Muggleborns!"
"Huh?" said Ron, raising an eyebrow.
"Muggleborns!" she repeated. "Gryffindor and Slytherin split because they didn't agree about Muggleborns!"
Harry's face showed understanding as well. "Yes, you're right," he said.
"But ... Muggleborns aren't ugly," said Ron. "Why would it look like that?"
"They are to Voldemort," Harry said. "He hates them."
Hermione nodded. "The image is meant to show unnaturalness," she said. "A horribly ugly person surrounded by beautiful magic, it doesn't look like it belongs. Voldemort thinks that Muggleborns don't have the right to use or study magic. He thinks they don't belong."
"So where would this go in the story?" Harry asked.
"I think it's second," said Hermione. "Gryffindor and Slytherin were best friends, they disagreed about Muggleborns, they split, Slytherin created the Chamber and Voldemort opened it. That's it!"
They all three beamed, nodding excitedly.
"So what now?" Ron asked.
Hermione's face fell slowly. "Hmm," she said for the third time.
Harry groaned, thinking of Draco again and if he was okay.
"Well, we know it has to be something to do with the torches," Hermione said slowly.
It was silent as the three of them tried to think of what to do.
"Couldn't we try to pull them?" Ron said.
Hermione looked at him and then at the nearest torch. "That could work," she said. "Perhaps pull them in the correct order."
Harry nodded but suddenly felt wary. He didn't know what would happen if they could pull the torches, but he was pretty certain that it wasn't going to be anything good. "I'll do it," he said.
"No, let me," said Ron, stepping forward. "We have the best chance of making it out of here if you and Hermione are the ones who can think. I don't bloody know about any of this stuff."
Harry huffed, running a hand through his hair again. "I wish you would just let me," he said. "I don't want you to get hurt."
"Shut up and stop being a prat," Ron said. "I'm doing it." He walked over to the first torch, the one with the lion and the serpent entwined.
Hermione looked scared as she stared at Ron.
Harry clenched his hands and gave Ron a short nod. "Be ready," he said.
Ron nodded as well and pulled on the torch. It moved down with a clunk, but nothing more happened. He moved to the next torch with the second image, pulling it as well.
Harry's breathing and heart rate increased with every step Ron took. He was squeezing his wand, ready and very tense.
Finally, Ron reached the fifth and final torch. He hesitated for a slight moment before pulling this one as well.
Harry held his breath, prepared for the worst, but nothing happened. The three stared at each other. The room was dead silent, but then there was a very loud click-like sound that echoed around them.
Ron immediately let go of the torch he was holding and took very quick steps backward, face paling.
Harry stared wildly around the room, spinning to make sure that he could see everything. He looked for where the noise had come from, his wand held out defensively.
The basement went silent again except for Harry, Ron and Hermione's heavy breathing.
Just when Harry was thinking that perhaps it hadn't worked, a horrible scraping sound filled the room. It was so loud that it was painful to the ears and Harry covered his with his hands, wincing.
"Look at the floor!" Hermione shouted, covering her ears as well.
In the centre of the room, the floor seemed to be moving. It was sliding back, uncovering a hidden passage leading lower into the ground.
Harry backed further away, Ron and Hermione doing the same.
After a minute that lasted for what seemed like forever, the scraping finally stopped.
Very cautiously, Harry took a few steps forward, looking into the opening. There was another set of stairs leading into more darkness.
Hermione grabbed the back of his shirt, looking down as Ron joined them and looked down as well.
"Where does it go?" he asked, still panting slightly with the rush of fear.
Harry shook his head. "I don't know," he said, "but we have to go down."
"What if it does what the other staircase did?" asked Ron seriously. "What'll we do then?"
"We can test it," said Hermione, getting a hold on herself and releasing Harry.
Harry and Ron looked at her, raising eyebrows.
"One of us can go down a few steps while the other two hold onto their arms," Hermione explained. "That way if the steps fall, the person can be pulled back up."
Harry took a short breath and nodded. "I'll go," he said.
Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "No, I will," she said. "It will be the easiest to pull me back up."
Harry opened his mouth to protest, but Hermione cut him off.
"No, Harry," she said. "Stop trying to do everything yourself. We came with you because we wanted to. We knew we would be doing dangerous things. Stop arguing and let me do this. You're only wasting time."
Harry huffed, but knew she was right. "Fine," he said.
Hermione nodded and moved determinedly forward. "Take my arms," she said, holding them out on either side of herself.
Exchanging slightly worried and anxious glances, Harry and Ron moved forward to do so. Once they had a firm grip, Hermione took a deep breath.
"Okay, hold on tight," she said. "I'm going down now."
Harry could actually hear Ron swallow as Hermione took the first step. Nothing happened and she stepped again. Harry and Ron leaned more and more forward as she moved, but the stairs didn't fall, there was no whooshing noise, no purple flashes of light.
"I think it's okay," Hermione said, taking backwards steps to get back up.
Ron and Harry both sighed with relief.
"Good," said Harry. "Let's go down then."
"Wait," said Ron quickly. "How do we get out of here? I mean, there's no telling what's down there. What if we need to get out quickly?"
Harry looked over towards what had been the staircase. He sighed. "Merlin, I don't know," he said, rubbing his forehead a few times.
"Can we Apparate?" Ron asked.
Harry winced. "I doubt that will work," he said seriously. "Try it, Ron."
Ron swallowed again and nodded. He seemed to concentrate and closed his eyes, but nothing happened. "Nothing," he said, looking a tad worried.
Harry let out a small huff. "I didn't think so," he said, but he tried himself. It didn't work for him either.
"We have to get out some way," said Hermione, her brows pulled together.
Harry bit his lip again. He walked over to the collapsed staircase and looked up. He couldn't reach the top ... but Ron ...
"Ron, come here," he said, still looking up.
Ron walked quickly over and looked up too. "What?" he asked.
"Do you think you can get back up there?"
Ron frowned. "I don't know," he said slowly. He bent low to the ground and jumped as high as he could, managing to touch the edge of the doorway with just the very tips of his fingers. He sighed when he landed on his feet again. "I can barely reach," he said. "There's no way I'm pulling myself up there, mate."
Harry groaned, starting to get nervous again now. He knew Draco wouldn't be able to help them. Harry had told him to stay put and he couldn't cross the door anyway.
"Could we use a Lightening Charm on you?" Hermione asked Ron, obviously thinking hard. "We could lighten you and give you a boost, and then you could get up on the stairs and help us up.
Harry stared at Hermione and nodded quickly. "It's worth a shot," he said, looking to Ron.
"Hey, whatever gets us the hell out of here," said Ron.
Harry nodded again and stepped back. "Hermione," he said, gesturing towards Ron so that she could do the spell.
"What, you want me up there now?" asked Ron, frowning at Harry.
"We need you up there in case we need out quick, like you said yourself," said Harry.
"But what if you need me down there?" asked Ron, frowning still and pointing to the dark opening.
Hermione bit her lip. "We will need a way to escape," she said. " And if we really need you then you can jump back down."
There was silence as the three friends stared at each other.
Ron let out a shaky sigh. "All right," he said. "Lighten me up."
Hermione's brows pulled together again. "It'll be hard to keep your balance when you're lightened, so keep that in mind," she said.
Ron nodded.
Hermione nodded too and raised her wand to cast the spell.
There were no changes to Ron on the outside of course, but he swayed a bit.
"All right?" asked Harry.
Ron nodded slowly. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm all right," he said.
Harry moved forward and bent down to pick Ron up.
Ron nearly fell, but managed to stay upright.
"Can you grab the ledge?" asked Harry, trying to look up as he held Ron up from around the waist.
"I - I can sort of reach it," Ron said, lifting his hands. "I could pull myself up if I wasn't under this charm."
"Well, how am I supposed to get you up there?" Harry asked, trying to lift Ron up even higher.
"Here, let me on your shoulders," Ron said, struggling to climb up. "Take the spell off when I say so and then let me go so I can get up."
Harry nodded even though Ron couldn't see it and tried to hold him as steady as he could. Ron was really wobbly.
"I think I've got it now," Ron said. "Take the spell off Hermione."
Hermione raised her wand and released the charm and Harry nearly fell flat on his face as all of Ron's weight was suddenly upon him.
"Merlin!" Harry let out, voice very strangled.
Ron groaned and swung a bit as Harry ducked out from under him. After a few moments of struggle, Ron finally managed to pull himself up, panting from the effort of lifting his entire body.
"Did you get up there okay?" Hermione asked, raising her voice.
"Yeah," Ron called back down. "Can you guys reach?" He leaned over as far as he could without falling again and dangled his arms over the side.
Harry reached up and could touch Ron's hands fairly easily. Hermione did the same and she could reach too.
"You'll both have to do Lightening Charms for me to be able to pull you up," Ron said.
Harry nodded and turned his head to look at the dark entry way again. "Hermione, you stay here and I'll go," he said.
"No, Harry," she said, looking at him sternly.
Harry sighed having had to try at least one more time. "Fine, but have your wand out and be ready for the worst," he said. "And I mean the very worst."
She nodded, obviously trying not to show fear.
"Be careful," Ron said.
Hermione bit her lip and nodded. "We will be," she said.
Harry swallowed again and walked slowly across the room, his heart starting to beat faster. He wondered if Draco could feel it. He stared at the entrance and bit his lip, taking slow, even breaths.
"Let's go, Harry," said Hermione, who had walked over with him.
Harry took in one final large breath and let it out slowly before stepping forward into the darkness.
Hermione gripped his shirt again, holding on tightly.
As they made their way down the stairs, Harry could see that it was lit with very dim red light, casting a bloody glow.
The room was circular and stone with a thick stone ledge ringing the wall, everything indeed bathed in red light. It was smaller than Harry had expected it to be. He reached the bottom of the stairs and looked around, his stance defensive again.
"Is it down here?" Hermione whispered, stepping beside him. "It doesn't look like there's anything in here either."
"There has to be," said Harry insistently, entering the room further. He ran his hand along the ledge, looking closely at the wall.
Hermione watched him and stared around the room herself.
Harry circled the room several times, finding nothing. He huffed angrily, burying his hands in his hair.
"You're right, Harry," Hermione said, finally stepping fully into the room herself. "There does have to be something here. Just look closely. We know it isn't going to be easy to find."
Harry sighed and nodded and the two of them began their thorough search of the room. There were no corners or nooks to look into, but they did get to the floor and crawl along, feeling the crack where the wall met the ground. They felt along the crack of the ledge, too. Harry even reached up and pressed hands against the low ceiling, searching there as well.
"Anything?" Hermione asked, watching him.
Harry shook his head no, wondering what they could possibly have to do.
"Why don't you tell me what happened in the cave again," Hermione said. "Just so that we can compare. Perhaps there's a similarity."
Harry sighed. "It was nothing like this," he said. "There was water and Dumbledore and I had to cross to a small ... island-type thing where the Horcrux was supposed to be."
"And what did you have to do to cross?"
"We crossed in a boat. Dumbledore used magic to find it and that's what happened."
Hermione frowned. "There's no way we're going to be able to use magic like Dumbledore," she muttered to herself. "I haven't even the faintest idea of what he would have used. You didn't do anything before getting to the boat even? Nothing at all?"
"Well," said Harry slowly, "Dumbledore cut his hand and dripped blood on the wall to find the entrance."
Hermione's eyes widened. "Harry!" she said, sounding a bit exasperated. "Why didn't you say that in the first place?"
"I didn't think about it," Harry said in his defence, but he was beginning to feel nervous and excited again now that they had the possible answer.
Hermione shook her head at him. "All right then," she said. "One of us is going to have to cut their hand. Where should we put the blood ...?" She looked around.
Harry had no idea where it should go. Everything in the room looked the same to him.
"I suppose we should just touch this ledge with it," she said. "It has to be here for some reason." She pressed her wand to her hand to cut and looked at Harry sternly when he opened his mouth to protest.
He gritted his teeth and rolled his eyes slightly.
She made a small, but long cut and Harry winced as she used Sectumsempra.
"Are you ready?" she asked, clenching her hand so that the blood didn't drop.
Harry nodded, feeling like his nerves had never been so abused.
Hermione pressed her hand to the stone ledge and green light shimmered where the blood hit. She stepped away and towards Harry, watching tensely.
The shimmering green light spread from the blood to cover the entire wall, all the way around the room, mixing with the red light muddily. It faded until there were only two places in the wall still covered in magical light. Hand prints on opposite sides of the room glowed eerily green, teasing in its innocent flickering.
"Of course," said Harry quietly. "It is like the cave - well, not exactly like it, but like it in the fact that at least two people are needed to get the Horcrux. I'm guessing that it will show itself when we touch our hands to those imprints - and look," he stood in the centre of the room and held his arms straight out, "it would be impossible for one person to touch both spots."
Hermione nodded. "Yes, that makes sense," she said. "Only, why would it matter how many people came down? Wouldn't you have more of a chance to get out if you brought someone with you?"
"I think it's probably designed to only allow one person," Harry said. "That's what Dumbledore told me in the cave. The boat we used was only meant to hold one, but it was measured by power, not weight."
"But we're both down here," said Hermione.
"Yes, but we're not fully qualified," said Harry. "We shouldn't even be out of school yet. Dumbledore said that Voldemort underestimated the young. I think if we had come down here later, as in a few more years, it wouldn't have allowed us both."
"Well, thank goodness for being under-qualified," she said with a nervous laugh.
Harry laughed nervously too and nodded in agreement, breathing deep. "So ... here we go," he said.
Hermione nodded. "Yes, here we go," she said.
They both stepped up to the hand prints, holding their own hands close to the wall.
Harry swallowed once and looked over at Hermione. "Okay, go," he said quickly, pressing his hand to the wall. She did the same and then a searing pain swept through Harry's body. He screamed as he felt like he was being burned, unable to pull his hand away.
Hermione was screaming as well, writhing and trying with all her might to pull away.
It felt like it went on forever, getting steadily worse and worse. They both didn't even notice the platform rising in the centre of the room, bearing a golden cup.
As Harry felt like he was about to lose his mind in the agonising pain, a powerful jolt shot through him and he fell to his knees, dropping his hand from the wall.
Hermione stopped screaming as well, panting and on all fours.
"Are you - are you all right?" Harry panted, wincing as he moved.
"Y-yes, I think so," Hermione answered shakily.
Harry got slowly to his feet, his body aching now. "Look," he said breathlessly, feeling overwhelmingly glad that the wall had decided to release them. He had an irking feeling that it wasn't supposed to. He moved quickly to help Hermione up, eyes on the cup in the centre, the cup that Harry had seen in the Pensieve with Dumbledore. Hufflepuff's cup, a Horcrux.
He wanted to grab it and run, but he didn't dare, knowing that it wasn't so simple - that it couldn't be so simple, not even with everything that had already happened.
"That's it, isn't it?" Hermione said, wide eyes on the cup as well.
"That's it," said Harry, nodding. "But don't touch it." He continued to stare at the cup and then around the room as if expecting something to jump out at him. He was expecting something to jump out at him. "It can't be so simple," he said, more to himself than to Hermione.
"How do we get it?" she asked.
"If we touch it, something will happen. I know it will," said Harry.
"What other choice do we have?" asked Hermione, frowning.
Harry bit his lip. They really didn't have any other choice. But something happening was inevitable, he knew it. He moved a few more steps closer to the platform and hesitated before reaching and running his hand as close to the cup as he could without actually touching it. There were no shields around it then, like there had been with the locket in the potion.
Hermione seemed to be holding her breath as she watched him.
Harry pulled his hand back and stared at the cup for a few moments. "I'm just going to have to grab it and then we can run. Any spell you shoot at it could trigger something, and while I really think something will happen if I touch it, at least I'll have it in my hands before we have to run for it."
Hermione looked frightened.
Harry still stood and stared at the cup, as nervous and scared as he could possibly be.
"Take it, Harry," said Hermione in a squeaky voice next to him after an entire minute had passed.
Harry took in one final large breath and let it out slowly before reaching forward and plucking the cup from the round platform.
Absolutely nothing happened.
Harry and Hermione both held probably as still as they had in their entire lives, waiting for the room to cave in, or for it to close on them, or anything really. But there was nothing.
"No fucking way," Harry said after they had stood for much longer than Harry thought they should have. "I don't believe it." And he didn't.
They were still for even longer.
"Maybe we should just ... go," Hermione said, voice still very high.
Harry swallowed, unnerved by the nothing. He didn't have any better suggestions and so he nodded, taking in everything around himself in case there was something lurking, though that seemed impossible in this fairly small room. "L-lets move up," he said quietly. "Go ahead and go first."
"But, Harry-"
"I said go first," Harry cut in, voice low and serious.
Hermione bit her lip and cautiously began to make her way towards the stairs again, taking them one by one and very slowly.
Harry wouldn't have been surprised if blades came out of the ceiling and walls to try to cut them into bits. His heart pounded as he clutched the cup and his wand tightly, following after Hermione, ready to fight or fire spells as needed.
But once again, nothing happened. Harry wondered if he was having some strange dream about finding a Horcrux, thinking it wasn't possible that he was really going to get away without being harmed, or without anything even really attempting to harm him. He found himself in a state of slight awe, watching as Hermione cleared the steps without any trouble.
Hermione stood at the top of the stairs, looking shocked and in awe herself as she waited for Harry.
Harry didn't dare smile or whoop in victory, knowing that they were still very much inside the building where Voldemort had placed his Horcrux. He wouldn't be ready to do any whooping until they were far from this place. He took the final stair and stepped back into the main basement, looking around.
"Harry, I - I think we did it," Hermione said, grasping his arm.
"Let's not say anything yet," Harry said. "I want out of here." And as he took another step, something finally did happen. Something Harry knew was trouble right away.
The torches on the walls flared up high enough so that their flames licked the ceiling and Harry's eyes grew wide.
There was about a second while Harry and Hermione stood there, before each torch holder seemed to open up on the bottom and spew some sort of liquid that covered the entire floor quicker than should have been possible, moving over every vast inch of it in milliseconds.
"Oh my God," said Hermione, taking a sniff of the air. Her eyes were wider than Harry's. "Harry. Fire," she managed before the flames in the torches seemed to actually spill from them onto the floor. "Run!" she yelled.
Harry gasped and grabbed her hand, running as fast as he could towards the stairs. The entire room was filling with fire quicker than he had ever seen fire spread. A trail of flame crossed rapidly in their path and Harry had to let go of Hermione's hand as they were forced to separate, the flames blocking his way to freedom.
“Go!" he shouted, looking around him for another way around the fire. He didn't wait to see if she had gone as he dodged another trail of flame that whipped across the room. He'd never seen fire do this before. Sweat poured from his body and he could barely breathe, although there was no smoke. The flames hurt just being near them.
He turned on the spot, not being able to see any way around the heat. So much heat. So hot.
He ran one way, but was blocked. He turned to his left and his arm was singed with the sharpest pain that not even fire should have produced. Shit!, he thought, crying out.
He spun desperately, his survival instincts kicking in as his lungs actually began hurting from breathing in air so hot. He tried a few more turns and was burned three times. It hurt so fucking much.
It wasn't until he was gasping for breath that he saw his means of escape. He desperately leapt through the fire to reach it. It felt like Crucio in those unnatural flames and he screamed at the top of his lungs, nearly falling from the pain, but he somehow stayed upright and he leapt at Ron's arms still hanging down, trying to do anything to get out of the fucking heat.
"Quick, do the charm!" Ron yelled frantically behind him, trying not to fall.
Harry found that he suddenly felt lighter and his legs tried to give out as he lost his balance, but Ron's arms grabbed him just before he was out of reach and pulled him up.
Harry took gulps of cool air, already feeling ten times better just being out of that heat.
"Get further back!" Ron gasped over his shoulder. "Quick, it's fucking burning me!" He pulled Harry up as quickly as he could and then scrambled back, sweating nearly as much as Harry.
Harry lay on his back panting, his skin still feeling hot. His wand was clutched in one hand and the Horcrux in the other.
Ron was gasping for breath as well, his hair wet and sticking to his face. "Let's get the fuck out of here," he panted, looking at Hermione.
Hermione was breathing heavily, but not as bad as Ron or Harry. She nodded.
Harry turned his head slowly and tried to look for Draco as where he was and what he had been doing slowly came back to him, but he still felt hot and he hurt all over.
Draco had collapsed to the floor, and lay there in the dust and rubble. His pose looked unnatural and he wasn't moving.
"Draco," Harry gasped weakly, trying to get up.
Hermione bent and lifted Harry oddly into her arms. "Cast a Lightening Charm on Draco and get him, Ron," she said quickly. "We should get them outside."
Ron nodded and lifted Draco, and he and Hermione carried Harry and Draco quickly back out into the graveyard.
Hermione set Harry back down and as he breathed in the cool air he felt better. "What's the matter with him?" he asked, voice still strained. He crawled over to Draco where Ron had set him down. He touched his face with a shaking hand. "Draco?" he asked. Draco was cold and limp, his body unresponsive. He didn't appear to even be breathing. Harry could feel how cold Draco's skin was beneath his fingers. His heart began beating frantically.
Chapter Title: Fire and Ice
Words: 5860 Words
Harry landed hard on his side, groaning as he hit the floor. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, gritting his teeth at the pain.
Two loud groans near him told him that Ron and Hermione had fallen as well. "Are you both okay?" he asked after a few seconds, rubbing his side tenderly.
"I'm okay," said Ron in a strained voice.
"So am I," said Hermione, voice as tight as Ron's.
Harry got gingerly to his feet and Summoned his wand, unable to see in the darkness. "Lumos," he said, but nothing happened. He frowned and tried the spell again. "Lumos," he said, but still, nothing happened.
"Lumos," came Hermione's voice, but no light followed her words, and then Ron tried and nothing happened with his wand either.
"Why can't we light our wands?" Ron asked. Harry couldn't see his face, but he could tell he was nervous.
"There's probably some sort of spell or shield up preventing it," said Hermione.
"Then how are we supposed to bloody see down here?" asked Ron, and almost as if to answer his question, torches on the walls lit up around them, flickering to life.
Harry tensed immediately and held his wand up, staring around the newly illuminated room. It was a huge basement, empty except for the fallen planks of wood from the stairs. The corners of the room were still dark and Harry was very wary of them. "Stick close to me," he said again.
He moved away from the collapsed staircase slowly, eyes roaming over every part of the room.
Ron and Hermione followed behind him, their wands held out as well.
"This place looks empty," Hermione said.
"Looks empty," said Harry. "Believe me, not everything is going to be how it seems." He felt Ron and Hermione move closer.
They moved from corner to corner very slowly, warily checking out the four dark spots, but there was nothing, absolutely nothing in the room.
Frustrated, Harry huffed and ran a hand through his hair.
"I don't get it," said Ron. "All of that for an empty room? Why put the torches down here? Why put that spell on the staircase?"
"There has to be something we're not seeing," Harry muttered absently, running his hand along the stone wall. He wondered if Draco would be able to find it if he were down here.
Hermione stared around the room, seeming to be thinking. "Yes, it's obvious that we're missing something," she said to herself, thinking aloud. "But what? What could it be?"
Harry huffed again, ceasing the uselessness of feeling the wall.
"There's obviously a ward in place," Hermione said. "We couldn't light our wands. The question is ... can we do magic at all?"
Harry and Ron both swallowed thickly at that.
Hermione held her wand out and brought it down through the air, golden sparks following her movement. Seeming relieved, she nodded. "Well, it's not blocking all magic," she said.
"But what's the point of blocking Lumos?" Harry asked. "That's hardly the spell I would block if I were Voldemort."
Hermione shook her head, thinking again. "Naturally, Lumos would be the first spell anyone would use when they came down here," she said. "But the torches are meant to give the light. Trying to use Lumos triggered them. Had we been able to use the spell, the torches wouldn't be needed, thus the torches must be significant." She walked over to the nearest torch in the wall, studying it intently.
Harry and Ron watched her, both of them quiet.
"Yes," she said after a short while. "Come here and look."
They both rushed over, looking to where she was pointing at a small engraved picture on the metal holder of the torch.
"What is it?" Ron asked.
The picture was of a human figure that seemed to be standing on a broken line. It looked to Harry like it was supposed to be a floor with an opening. Beneath the line and the figure was a serpent with tiny flecks of amber for eyes.
"Look at the others," Hermione said, moving away and going to the next torch. Harry and Ron followed her here as well.
They made their way around the room, studying each torch. Many of the torches had no pictures, but five of them did, including the first one they had looked at. There was a picture of a grotesque-looking person with what seemed to be small diamonds surrounding the figure. There was a picture of a serpent with emeralds for eyes wrapped around a lion with rubies where the eyes were and then another engraving of the same lion and snake apart and looking vicious. The last engraving they found was of the emerald-eyed snake atop a line similar to the one of the first picture. The same amber-eyed snake was there and in the same place, only this time the line was whole and unbroken.
"What does it mean?" Harry asked when they had made it back to the starting point.
Hermione chewed on her lip. "I think it's ... a tale," she said.
"A tale?" said Ron, raising an eyebrow.
Hermione nodded. "Yes, but I think it's out of order." She began walking around the room yet again, looking at each of the marked torches. "I think it's obvious that the green-eyed snake and the lion stand for Gryffindor and Slytherin," she said.
Harry nodded, having thought that as well.
"In one image they're entwined," she continued, "and in another they're apart and they look ... angry."
"And the other images?" asked Ron.
Hermione chewed on her lip again. "Well, there's the one with Slytherin and the yellow-eyed snake," she said, walking over to the torch holding that picture. "And the line isn't broken like in the other picture with the yellow-eyed snake."
"The Basilisk!" said Harry suddenly. "The yellow-eyed snake is the Basilisk!" He quickly joined Hermione at the torch. He ran a finger along the line, or the 'floor.' "The Chamber of Secrets," he said quietly. "That's what this means."
Hermione nodded, looking excited as she always did when she was on the verge of figuring something out. "Yes," she said, practically running back to the torch with the yellow-eyed snake and the human figure. "And here the Chamber is opened," she said, "while in the other one it's closed."
"That's the tale," said Harry quickly. "The Chamber of Secrets."
Hermione nodded again. "Gryffindor and Slytherin were best friends," she began, crossing to the image of lion and snake entwined. "They parted ways." Here she walked to the image of lion and snake apart and angry. "Slytherin created the Chamber of Secrets and placed the Basilisk inside." She walked to the image of the two snakes and the closed line. "And the Heir of Slytherin released the Basilisk." She finally turned to the image of the human and snake with the broken line. "Tom Riddle - Lord Voldemort."
"But what's the other picture?" Ron asked, crossing to the torch engraved with the picture of the very ugly person surrounded by the diamond sparks.
Hermione frowned, joining Ron. "Hmm ..." she said, staring intently at the picture. She repeated the story to herself aloud, thinking again.
"A person killed by the Basilisk?" Ron suggested.
"Hmm," Hermione said again. "No ... I don't think so .... Look at the sparks. Those don't appear when you're killed by a Basilisk, or even petrified. You simply die or freeze."
Harry stared at the image too, sighing. "What is it then?" he said. "Where does it fit in the story?"
Hermione shook her head, still frowning. After several moments she shook her head yet again. "I just don't know," she said. "It could be anything ..." But then her face showed sudden comprehension and she took a sharp breath. "Of course!" she said. "Muggleborns!"
"Huh?" said Ron, raising an eyebrow.
"Muggleborns!" she repeated. "Gryffindor and Slytherin split because they didn't agree about Muggleborns!"
Harry's face showed understanding as well. "Yes, you're right," he said.
"But ... Muggleborns aren't ugly," said Ron. "Why would it look like that?"
"They are to Voldemort," Harry said. "He hates them."
Hermione nodded. "The image is meant to show unnaturalness," she said. "A horribly ugly person surrounded by beautiful magic, it doesn't look like it belongs. Voldemort thinks that Muggleborns don't have the right to use or study magic. He thinks they don't belong."
"So where would this go in the story?" Harry asked.
"I think it's second," said Hermione. "Gryffindor and Slytherin were best friends, they disagreed about Muggleborns, they split, Slytherin created the Chamber and Voldemort opened it. That's it!"
They all three beamed, nodding excitedly.
"So what now?" Ron asked.
Hermione's face fell slowly. "Hmm," she said for the third time.
Harry groaned, thinking of Draco again and if he was okay.
"Well, we know it has to be something to do with the torches," Hermione said slowly.
It was silent as the three of them tried to think of what to do.
"Couldn't we try to pull them?" Ron said.
Hermione looked at him and then at the nearest torch. "That could work," she said. "Perhaps pull them in the correct order."
Harry nodded but suddenly felt wary. He didn't know what would happen if they could pull the torches, but he was pretty certain that it wasn't going to be anything good. "I'll do it," he said.
"No, let me," said Ron, stepping forward. "We have the best chance of making it out of here if you and Hermione are the ones who can think. I don't bloody know about any of this stuff."
Harry huffed, running a hand through his hair again. "I wish you would just let me," he said. "I don't want you to get hurt."
"Shut up and stop being a prat," Ron said. "I'm doing it." He walked over to the first torch, the one with the lion and the serpent entwined.
Hermione looked scared as she stared at Ron.
Harry clenched his hands and gave Ron a short nod. "Be ready," he said.
Ron nodded as well and pulled on the torch. It moved down with a clunk, but nothing more happened. He moved to the next torch with the second image, pulling it as well.
Harry's breathing and heart rate increased with every step Ron took. He was squeezing his wand, ready and very tense.
Finally, Ron reached the fifth and final torch. He hesitated for a slight moment before pulling this one as well.
Harry held his breath, prepared for the worst, but nothing happened. The three stared at each other. The room was dead silent, but then there was a very loud click-like sound that echoed around them.
Ron immediately let go of the torch he was holding and took very quick steps backward, face paling.
Harry stared wildly around the room, spinning to make sure that he could see everything. He looked for where the noise had come from, his wand held out defensively.
The basement went silent again except for Harry, Ron and Hermione's heavy breathing.
Just when Harry was thinking that perhaps it hadn't worked, a horrible scraping sound filled the room. It was so loud that it was painful to the ears and Harry covered his with his hands, wincing.
"Look at the floor!" Hermione shouted, covering her ears as well.
In the centre of the room, the floor seemed to be moving. It was sliding back, uncovering a hidden passage leading lower into the ground.
Harry backed further away, Ron and Hermione doing the same.
After a minute that lasted for what seemed like forever, the scraping finally stopped.
Very cautiously, Harry took a few steps forward, looking into the opening. There was another set of stairs leading into more darkness.
Hermione grabbed the back of his shirt, looking down as Ron joined them and looked down as well.
"Where does it go?" he asked, still panting slightly with the rush of fear.
Harry shook his head. "I don't know," he said, "but we have to go down."
"What if it does what the other staircase did?" asked Ron seriously. "What'll we do then?"
"We can test it," said Hermione, getting a hold on herself and releasing Harry.
Harry and Ron looked at her, raising eyebrows.
"One of us can go down a few steps while the other two hold onto their arms," Hermione explained. "That way if the steps fall, the person can be pulled back up."
Harry took a short breath and nodded. "I'll go," he said.
Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "No, I will," she said. "It will be the easiest to pull me back up."
Harry opened his mouth to protest, but Hermione cut him off.
"No, Harry," she said. "Stop trying to do everything yourself. We came with you because we wanted to. We knew we would be doing dangerous things. Stop arguing and let me do this. You're only wasting time."
Harry huffed, but knew she was right. "Fine," he said.
Hermione nodded and moved determinedly forward. "Take my arms," she said, holding them out on either side of herself.
Exchanging slightly worried and anxious glances, Harry and Ron moved forward to do so. Once they had a firm grip, Hermione took a deep breath.
"Okay, hold on tight," she said. "I'm going down now."
Harry could actually hear Ron swallow as Hermione took the first step. Nothing happened and she stepped again. Harry and Ron leaned more and more forward as she moved, but the stairs didn't fall, there was no whooshing noise, no purple flashes of light.
"I think it's okay," Hermione said, taking backwards steps to get back up.
Ron and Harry both sighed with relief.
"Good," said Harry. "Let's go down then."
"Wait," said Ron quickly. "How do we get out of here? I mean, there's no telling what's down there. What if we need to get out quickly?"
Harry looked over towards what had been the staircase. He sighed. "Merlin, I don't know," he said, rubbing his forehead a few times.
"Can we Apparate?" Ron asked.
Harry winced. "I doubt that will work," he said seriously. "Try it, Ron."
Ron swallowed again and nodded. He seemed to concentrate and closed his eyes, but nothing happened. "Nothing," he said, looking a tad worried.
Harry let out a small huff. "I didn't think so," he said, but he tried himself. It didn't work for him either.
"We have to get out some way," said Hermione, her brows pulled together.
Harry bit his lip again. He walked over to the collapsed staircase and looked up. He couldn't reach the top ... but Ron ...
"Ron, come here," he said, still looking up.
Ron walked quickly over and looked up too. "What?" he asked.
"Do you think you can get back up there?"
Ron frowned. "I don't know," he said slowly. He bent low to the ground and jumped as high as he could, managing to touch the edge of the doorway with just the very tips of his fingers. He sighed when he landed on his feet again. "I can barely reach," he said. "There's no way I'm pulling myself up there, mate."
Harry groaned, starting to get nervous again now. He knew Draco wouldn't be able to help them. Harry had told him to stay put and he couldn't cross the door anyway.
"Could we use a Lightening Charm on you?" Hermione asked Ron, obviously thinking hard. "We could lighten you and give you a boost, and then you could get up on the stairs and help us up.
Harry stared at Hermione and nodded quickly. "It's worth a shot," he said, looking to Ron.
"Hey, whatever gets us the hell out of here," said Ron.
Harry nodded again and stepped back. "Hermione," he said, gesturing towards Ron so that she could do the spell.
"What, you want me up there now?" asked Ron, frowning at Harry.
"We need you up there in case we need out quick, like you said yourself," said Harry.
"But what if you need me down there?" asked Ron, frowning still and pointing to the dark opening.
Hermione bit her lip. "We will need a way to escape," she said. " And if we really need you then you can jump back down."
There was silence as the three friends stared at each other.
Ron let out a shaky sigh. "All right," he said. "Lighten me up."
Hermione's brows pulled together again. "It'll be hard to keep your balance when you're lightened, so keep that in mind," she said.
Ron nodded.
Hermione nodded too and raised her wand to cast the spell.
There were no changes to Ron on the outside of course, but he swayed a bit.
"All right?" asked Harry.
Ron nodded slowly. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm all right," he said.
Harry moved forward and bent down to pick Ron up.
Ron nearly fell, but managed to stay upright.
"Can you grab the ledge?" asked Harry, trying to look up as he held Ron up from around the waist.
"I - I can sort of reach it," Ron said, lifting his hands. "I could pull myself up if I wasn't under this charm."
"Well, how am I supposed to get you up there?" Harry asked, trying to lift Ron up even higher.
"Here, let me on your shoulders," Ron said, struggling to climb up. "Take the spell off when I say so and then let me go so I can get up."
Harry nodded even though Ron couldn't see it and tried to hold him as steady as he could. Ron was really wobbly.
"I think I've got it now," Ron said. "Take the spell off Hermione."
Hermione raised her wand and released the charm and Harry nearly fell flat on his face as all of Ron's weight was suddenly upon him.
"Merlin!" Harry let out, voice very strangled.
Ron groaned and swung a bit as Harry ducked out from under him. After a few moments of struggle, Ron finally managed to pull himself up, panting from the effort of lifting his entire body.
"Did you get up there okay?" Hermione asked, raising her voice.
"Yeah," Ron called back down. "Can you guys reach?" He leaned over as far as he could without falling again and dangled his arms over the side.
Harry reached up and could touch Ron's hands fairly easily. Hermione did the same and she could reach too.
"You'll both have to do Lightening Charms for me to be able to pull you up," Ron said.
Harry nodded and turned his head to look at the dark entry way again. "Hermione, you stay here and I'll go," he said.
"No, Harry," she said, looking at him sternly.
Harry sighed having had to try at least one more time. "Fine, but have your wand out and be ready for the worst," he said. "And I mean the very worst."
She nodded, obviously trying not to show fear.
"Be careful," Ron said.
Hermione bit her lip and nodded. "We will be," she said.
Harry swallowed again and walked slowly across the room, his heart starting to beat faster. He wondered if Draco could feel it. He stared at the entrance and bit his lip, taking slow, even breaths.
"Let's go, Harry," said Hermione, who had walked over with him.
Harry took in one final large breath and let it out slowly before stepping forward into the darkness.
Hermione gripped his shirt again, holding on tightly.
As they made their way down the stairs, Harry could see that it was lit with very dim red light, casting a bloody glow.
The room was circular and stone with a thick stone ledge ringing the wall, everything indeed bathed in red light. It was smaller than Harry had expected it to be. He reached the bottom of the stairs and looked around, his stance defensive again.
"Is it down here?" Hermione whispered, stepping beside him. "It doesn't look like there's anything in here either."
"There has to be," said Harry insistently, entering the room further. He ran his hand along the ledge, looking closely at the wall.
Hermione watched him and stared around the room herself.
Harry circled the room several times, finding nothing. He huffed angrily, burying his hands in his hair.
"You're right, Harry," Hermione said, finally stepping fully into the room herself. "There does have to be something here. Just look closely. We know it isn't going to be easy to find."
Harry sighed and nodded and the two of them began their thorough search of the room. There were no corners or nooks to look into, but they did get to the floor and crawl along, feeling the crack where the wall met the ground. They felt along the crack of the ledge, too. Harry even reached up and pressed hands against the low ceiling, searching there as well.
"Anything?" Hermione asked, watching him.
Harry shook his head no, wondering what they could possibly have to do.
"Why don't you tell me what happened in the cave again," Hermione said. "Just so that we can compare. Perhaps there's a similarity."
Harry sighed. "It was nothing like this," he said. "There was water and Dumbledore and I had to cross to a small ... island-type thing where the Horcrux was supposed to be."
"And what did you have to do to cross?"
"We crossed in a boat. Dumbledore used magic to find it and that's what happened."
Hermione frowned. "There's no way we're going to be able to use magic like Dumbledore," she muttered to herself. "I haven't even the faintest idea of what he would have used. You didn't do anything before getting to the boat even? Nothing at all?"
"Well," said Harry slowly, "Dumbledore cut his hand and dripped blood on the wall to find the entrance."
Hermione's eyes widened. "Harry!" she said, sounding a bit exasperated. "Why didn't you say that in the first place?"
"I didn't think about it," Harry said in his defence, but he was beginning to feel nervous and excited again now that they had the possible answer.
Hermione shook her head at him. "All right then," she said. "One of us is going to have to cut their hand. Where should we put the blood ...?" She looked around.
Harry had no idea where it should go. Everything in the room looked the same to him.
"I suppose we should just touch this ledge with it," she said. "It has to be here for some reason." She pressed her wand to her hand to cut and looked at Harry sternly when he opened his mouth to protest.
He gritted his teeth and rolled his eyes slightly.
She made a small, but long cut and Harry winced as she used Sectumsempra.
"Are you ready?" she asked, clenching her hand so that the blood didn't drop.
Harry nodded, feeling like his nerves had never been so abused.
Hermione pressed her hand to the stone ledge and green light shimmered where the blood hit. She stepped away and towards Harry, watching tensely.
The shimmering green light spread from the blood to cover the entire wall, all the way around the room, mixing with the red light muddily. It faded until there were only two places in the wall still covered in magical light. Hand prints on opposite sides of the room glowed eerily green, teasing in its innocent flickering.
"Of course," said Harry quietly. "It is like the cave - well, not exactly like it, but like it in the fact that at least two people are needed to get the Horcrux. I'm guessing that it will show itself when we touch our hands to those imprints - and look," he stood in the centre of the room and held his arms straight out, "it would be impossible for one person to touch both spots."
Hermione nodded. "Yes, that makes sense," she said. "Only, why would it matter how many people came down? Wouldn't you have more of a chance to get out if you brought someone with you?"
"I think it's probably designed to only allow one person," Harry said. "That's what Dumbledore told me in the cave. The boat we used was only meant to hold one, but it was measured by power, not weight."
"But we're both down here," said Hermione.
"Yes, but we're not fully qualified," said Harry. "We shouldn't even be out of school yet. Dumbledore said that Voldemort underestimated the young. I think if we had come down here later, as in a few more years, it wouldn't have allowed us both."
"Well, thank goodness for being under-qualified," she said with a nervous laugh.
Harry laughed nervously too and nodded in agreement, breathing deep. "So ... here we go," he said.
Hermione nodded. "Yes, here we go," she said.
They both stepped up to the hand prints, holding their own hands close to the wall.
Harry swallowed once and looked over at Hermione. "Okay, go," he said quickly, pressing his hand to the wall. She did the same and then a searing pain swept through Harry's body. He screamed as he felt like he was being burned, unable to pull his hand away.
Hermione was screaming as well, writhing and trying with all her might to pull away.
It felt like it went on forever, getting steadily worse and worse. They both didn't even notice the platform rising in the centre of the room, bearing a golden cup.
As Harry felt like he was about to lose his mind in the agonising pain, a powerful jolt shot through him and he fell to his knees, dropping his hand from the wall.
Hermione stopped screaming as well, panting and on all fours.
"Are you - are you all right?" Harry panted, wincing as he moved.
"Y-yes, I think so," Hermione answered shakily.
Harry got slowly to his feet, his body aching now. "Look," he said breathlessly, feeling overwhelmingly glad that the wall had decided to release them. He had an irking feeling that it wasn't supposed to. He moved quickly to help Hermione up, eyes on the cup in the centre, the cup that Harry had seen in the Pensieve with Dumbledore. Hufflepuff's cup, a Horcrux.
He wanted to grab it and run, but he didn't dare, knowing that it wasn't so simple - that it couldn't be so simple, not even with everything that had already happened.
"That's it, isn't it?" Hermione said, wide eyes on the cup as well.
"That's it," said Harry, nodding. "But don't touch it." He continued to stare at the cup and then around the room as if expecting something to jump out at him. He was expecting something to jump out at him. "It can't be so simple," he said, more to himself than to Hermione.
"How do we get it?" she asked.
"If we touch it, something will happen. I know it will," said Harry.
"What other choice do we have?" asked Hermione, frowning.
Harry bit his lip. They really didn't have any other choice. But something happening was inevitable, he knew it. He moved a few more steps closer to the platform and hesitated before reaching and running his hand as close to the cup as he could without actually touching it. There were no shields around it then, like there had been with the locket in the potion.
Hermione seemed to be holding her breath as she watched him.
Harry pulled his hand back and stared at the cup for a few moments. "I'm just going to have to grab it and then we can run. Any spell you shoot at it could trigger something, and while I really think something will happen if I touch it, at least I'll have it in my hands before we have to run for it."
Hermione looked frightened.
Harry still stood and stared at the cup, as nervous and scared as he could possibly be.
"Take it, Harry," said Hermione in a squeaky voice next to him after an entire minute had passed.
Harry took in one final large breath and let it out slowly before reaching forward and plucking the cup from the round platform.
Absolutely nothing happened.
Harry and Hermione both held probably as still as they had in their entire lives, waiting for the room to cave in, or for it to close on them, or anything really. But there was nothing.
"No fucking way," Harry said after they had stood for much longer than Harry thought they should have. "I don't believe it." And he didn't.
They were still for even longer.
"Maybe we should just ... go," Hermione said, voice still very high.
Harry swallowed, unnerved by the nothing. He didn't have any better suggestions and so he nodded, taking in everything around himself in case there was something lurking, though that seemed impossible in this fairly small room. "L-lets move up," he said quietly. "Go ahead and go first."
"But, Harry-"
"I said go first," Harry cut in, voice low and serious.
Hermione bit her lip and cautiously began to make her way towards the stairs again, taking them one by one and very slowly.
Harry wouldn't have been surprised if blades came out of the ceiling and walls to try to cut them into bits. His heart pounded as he clutched the cup and his wand tightly, following after Hermione, ready to fight or fire spells as needed.
But once again, nothing happened. Harry wondered if he was having some strange dream about finding a Horcrux, thinking it wasn't possible that he was really going to get away without being harmed, or without anything even really attempting to harm him. He found himself in a state of slight awe, watching as Hermione cleared the steps without any trouble.
Hermione stood at the top of the stairs, looking shocked and in awe herself as she waited for Harry.
Harry didn't dare smile or whoop in victory, knowing that they were still very much inside the building where Voldemort had placed his Horcrux. He wouldn't be ready to do any whooping until they were far from this place. He took the final stair and stepped back into the main basement, looking around.
"Harry, I - I think we did it," Hermione said, grasping his arm.
"Let's not say anything yet," Harry said. "I want out of here." And as he took another step, something finally did happen. Something Harry knew was trouble right away.
The torches on the walls flared up high enough so that their flames licked the ceiling and Harry's eyes grew wide.
There was about a second while Harry and Hermione stood there, before each torch holder seemed to open up on the bottom and spew some sort of liquid that covered the entire floor quicker than should have been possible, moving over every vast inch of it in milliseconds.
"Oh my God," said Hermione, taking a sniff of the air. Her eyes were wider than Harry's. "Harry. Fire," she managed before the flames in the torches seemed to actually spill from them onto the floor. "Run!" she yelled.
Harry gasped and grabbed her hand, running as fast as he could towards the stairs. The entire room was filling with fire quicker than he had ever seen fire spread. A trail of flame crossed rapidly in their path and Harry had to let go of Hermione's hand as they were forced to separate, the flames blocking his way to freedom.
“Go!" he shouted, looking around him for another way around the fire. He didn't wait to see if she had gone as he dodged another trail of flame that whipped across the room. He'd never seen fire do this before. Sweat poured from his body and he could barely breathe, although there was no smoke. The flames hurt just being near them.
He turned on the spot, not being able to see any way around the heat. So much heat. So hot.
He ran one way, but was blocked. He turned to his left and his arm was singed with the sharpest pain that not even fire should have produced. Shit!, he thought, crying out.
He spun desperately, his survival instincts kicking in as his lungs actually began hurting from breathing in air so hot. He tried a few more turns and was burned three times. It hurt so fucking much.
It wasn't until he was gasping for breath that he saw his means of escape. He desperately leapt through the fire to reach it. It felt like Crucio in those unnatural flames and he screamed at the top of his lungs, nearly falling from the pain, but he somehow stayed upright and he leapt at Ron's arms still hanging down, trying to do anything to get out of the fucking heat.
"Quick, do the charm!" Ron yelled frantically behind him, trying not to fall.
Harry found that he suddenly felt lighter and his legs tried to give out as he lost his balance, but Ron's arms grabbed him just before he was out of reach and pulled him up.
Harry took gulps of cool air, already feeling ten times better just being out of that heat.
"Get further back!" Ron gasped over his shoulder. "Quick, it's fucking burning me!" He pulled Harry up as quickly as he could and then scrambled back, sweating nearly as much as Harry.
Harry lay on his back panting, his skin still feeling hot. His wand was clutched in one hand and the Horcrux in the other.
Ron was gasping for breath as well, his hair wet and sticking to his face. "Let's get the fuck out of here," he panted, looking at Hermione.
Hermione was breathing heavily, but not as bad as Ron or Harry. She nodded.
Harry turned his head slowly and tried to look for Draco as where he was and what he had been doing slowly came back to him, but he still felt hot and he hurt all over.
Draco had collapsed to the floor, and lay there in the dust and rubble. His pose looked unnatural and he wasn't moving.
"Draco," Harry gasped weakly, trying to get up.
Hermione bent and lifted Harry oddly into her arms. "Cast a Lightening Charm on Draco and get him, Ron," she said quickly. "We should get them outside."
Ron nodded and lifted Draco, and he and Hermione carried Harry and Draco quickly back out into the graveyard.
Hermione set Harry back down and as he breathed in the cool air he felt better. "What's the matter with him?" he asked, voice still strained. He crawled over to Draco where Ron had set him down. He touched his face with a shaking hand. "Draco?" he asked. Draco was cold and limp, his body unresponsive. He didn't appear to even be breathing. Harry could feel how cold Draco's skin was beneath his fingers. His heart began beating frantically.